Dancing Sweeties

There is at least one reason to watch bad films, especially old ones.

So much in life is the result of odd quirks of evolution, or happenstance if you prefer. All the things we are surrounded by seem as natural as sunlight and the only way they could be. But we live in a world where the stilted possibilities so outweigh the lucky happenstance that it is amazing we can stand it.

Movies are a small cosmos we create as our own gods and they behave the same way. So what we watch and how our visual imagination works is largely accidental. You can see some of the broken paths in old films. These reflect the "what might have beens" of the real world and are the real nodes of extinct possibilities in movies.

And when it is a dance movie, so much the better, because film and dance have been on- again off-again sweethearts from the beginning to now. And perhaps no romance in film has been more passionate but constrained than this.

Now. This movie, a vitaphone from the first real year of talkies is an interesting find. The story is simple and staged as a play except for the dance scenes. That story would be unacceptably simple and direct today: a guy is a dancing fool who cannot live without spending nights at the local dance hall competing. The text after the title sequence assures us that such passionate folk exist.

The girl is a simple, ordinary type, interested in building a home and family. By the thinnest of devices, they meet, marry and events transpire as expected. (Dance loses, family wins.)

And that's what happens in the movie proper. Dance is left by the wayside. In fact, except for the title sequence and a bit in the middle where our players watch a Charleston-type group, the dance is a matter of talking about it and some amazingly ungraceful boxstep.

What prompted me to this was seeing "Take the Lead," the newest dance movie as I write this. In a way, these are two ends of two family trees that still hasn't found the perfect mating.

Sigh.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Bill Cleaver (Grant Withers) is an expert dancer and he meets Molly (Sue Carol) at the dance club on the night of the big dance contest. They strike up a friendship and soon become partners....and end up winning the contest. However, something weird and unexpected happens next. It seems the dance club has planned a wedding that night as a publicity stunt...and the pair who are planning on marrying back out and it looks like the wedding is off. But Molly and Bill hate their living situations...and the couple who marry are to receive all sorts of wedding presents...including a home!! So, they impulsively decide to marry...and as you'd expect, their marriage is indeed problematic! What's next? See the film.

Despite having second-tier actors, the film is entertaining and enjoyable. However, "Dancing Sweeties" is a film that was later remade...though for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the remake and IMDB doesn't list this information on the page for "Dancing Sweeties"...but I clearly remember the same plot in another film. If you can remember the name of the remake, please drop me a line!

Bill (Grant Withers) always danced with Jazzbo (Edna Murphy) until he meets Molly (Sue Carol). Who are these actors ? No-one knows. Not the first string actors of the day, which is why they don't show this one often. Only 100 votes on imdb currently. Bill and Molly hit it off right away, but will their dancing be as good as their romancing? This one is clearly a musical, so there's lot of singing by the actors and others. I'm not a big fan of musicals, so I would have preferred they used that money to spiff up the script, but what do i know? It's plain and simple, and over quickly, so i guess it all works out. Original story Three Flights up by Harry Freid. Directed by Ray Enright; directed from the 1920s up into the 1950s.

DANCING SWEETIES (Warner Brothers, 1930), directed by Ray Enright, based on the story "Three Flights Up" by Harry Fried, is neither the best nor the worst of the early talkies from 1930. In fact, it's an agreeable look back into the world of dance marathons. With a fine mixture of song interludes, humor and sentiment, it's the dancing sequences, which are a far cry from the latter musicals of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, that highlight this presentation. Starring Grant Withers, shortly before his declining years in "B" westerns and chaptered serials for smaller movie studios such as Republic, and the pert and cute Sue Carol, in her only Warners film, being names unfamiliar to contemporary audiences, yet satisfactory for their performances in a quickie drama such as this.

Following the opening titles featuring superimposing young couple's tap dancing feet with no underscoring, "With some people dancing is a pleasure ... and with some people dancing is a business ... but with some people dancing is life," the story gets underway at the Hoffman Parisian Dance Palace where a dance contest with a free public wedding is to take place. Bill "Kid" Cleaver (Grant Withers) is a conceited dancer with nine first place cups to his credit. The very night he's to dance with his partner, "Jazzbo" Gans (Edna Murphy), Bill takes an sudden interested in Molly O'Neill (Sue Carol), dance partner to his friendly rival, "Needles" Thompson (Eddie Phillips). Attracted by her beauty, Bill conveniently sends Needles away so he can dance with Molly instead. The upset Needles ends up dancing the marathon with Jazzbo, losing the contest to Bill and Molly. Because the bride of the public wedding walks out, refusing to marry an undertaker, Jerry Browne (Sid Silvers), manager of the palace, substitutes Bill and Molly instead. Regardless of being perfect strangers and having similar backgrounds in life, they go on with the wedding and new life together. After meeting their parents, Bill and Molly find a place of their own. Troubles arise when Bill begins to miss his freedom going to dance marathons with Jazzbo, only to scheme his way to step out without ruining his marriage.

Others in the cast include Tully Marshall ("Pa" Cleaver); Margaret Seddon ("Ma" Cleaver); Kate Price (Molly's Mother); Dora Dean and Ada May Vaughan (Molly's sisters, Nellie and Emma). Though sources credit Vince Barnett as Ted Hoffman, after repeated viewing, the actor playing Ted Hoffman for its first sequence, is played by Lee Moran. When Hoffman appears again during the wedding ceremony, he is glimpsed to be Vince Barnett. Maybe a mistake in the editing process.

Though not essentially a musical, some good tunes by Al Dubin and Joe Burke include its theme song of "The Kiss Waltz," first vocalized by Grant Withers, then by a male quartette, and finally by Sue Carol. This is followed by a "Hullabaloo" dance sequence before "The Kiss Waltz" is reprised one last time. With its repeated background play, naturally "The Kiss Waltz" is the movie's song plug here.

While Grant Withers gives a conceited performance in the manner of MGM's William Haines or latter Warner Brothers own James Cagney, he gives a sturdy performance, while Sue Carol, years before retiring from acting to become a talent agent, is sympathetic as well as likable. Sid Silvers offers some humor here, but there isn't enough of him except as master of ceremonies. Even for its short length (62 minutes), it gives the impression of being longer with possibly more songs and story that ended up on the cutting room floor. Regardless, DANCING SWEETIES is good enough for film historians to view and rediscover dancing sweetie, Sue Carol.

Available on DVD, DANCING SWEETIES can be seen once in a while on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (**)

Some of the themes of They Shoot Horses Don't They are found in this contemporary film of the early talkies about dance contests. Dancing Sweeties is about a boy and girl who have dancing on their minds 24/7.

The young couple are Grant Withers and Sue Carol. After a while though Carol wants to settle down, but Withers is a dancing and in many ways other kinds of a fool.

The song The Kiss Waltz was introduced here, but over all I'd say the film hasn't worn well with age.

Grant Withers was the first husband of Loretta Young. As for Sue Carol she got out of acting and became an agent. Her best known client was her husband Alan Ladd. But that was year's down the road.

If you like museum pieces, this is your movie.